Wandering the paths of my ancestors

Tag Archives: Photo Fridays

There was about 400 miles between where we lived and where my Nordmark cousins lived. It was at Easter time that our two families got together. My Dad’s sister, Annette married a great guy, Don and together they had 5 children. Combine that with my family of 4 children, you had a full house come Easter weekend.

I believe we alternated years. One year the Whitehead’s would load up in the station wagon and make the trek to a northern Chicago suburb. The next year, the Nordmark’s would come down to a Cleveland suburb. I recall them having a van. Our parents must have done this because they realized how important family is to the development of children. Why else would they torture themselves for that trek? If you recall this was before video games, etc. So, I am not even sure what we did to keep ourselves occupied for 5 or 6 hours. Do you?

Whitehead-Nordmark Family

Easter Morning

Whitehead-Nordmark Easter

I think it is important to have interactions with your cousins. We share a similar family history. They are usually our first friends as children. They are the only ones to understand your crazy family. We each had a least one or two cousins that were of similar age. Jeff, the oldest, didn’t have anyone close to his age, and Joe(y) didn’t have one close to his age, but otherwise we had instant friends all weekend.

In our family, everyone remembers the famous Easter outfit that cousin Aimee wore one year. She was a box of Sun-Maid Raisins from head to toe. Otherwise known as the Sun-Maid girl, I have looked for the picture with her in full attire but I cannot find one, so below is the only one that I have. Maybe one of my cousins will share with me.

Joe, Krista and Aimee

So Happy Easter family, if you recall other Easter memories, please feel free to comment here. Until later, I will continue to be exploring backwards.